Mosquitos

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Sorry, Penguin. I'm not following you here.

Another way of putting it: a god who can't figure out to stop a species that he designed and created from proliferating out of control without inflicting diseases on them with is rather uncreative or incompetent. I mean, if that prospect worries god, why would he build the problem into our "design" in the first place?

Basically, it seems to me that you're suggesting that God needs mosquitos to correct a problem that, presumably, God himself created. Either that or God can't figure out a way to solve the problem without waging biological warfare on his creation.

I think this point of view has theological implications that don't mesh well with the beliefs of many religions.

 

[839311]

Another way of putting it: a god who can't figure out to stop a species that he designed and created from proliferating out of control without inflicting diseases on them with is rather uncreative or incompetent. I mean, if that prospect worries god, why would he build the problem into our "design" in the first place?

Basically, it seems to me that you're suggesting that God needs mosquitos to correct a problem that, presumably, God himself created. Either that or God can't figure out a way to solve the problem without waging biological warfare on his creation.

Well said, I agree. If this world was indeed designed, which I am more than relieved to know its not, it would be a hideous reflection of the character of a designer who creates suffering and evil and disease.

 

[dolly]

Well said Penguin and 839811, An all powerful god wouldn't need to make checks on his own creations - he would be able to control their population/etc in ways that don't cause pain.

 

[RitalinO.D.]

Another way of putting it: a god who can't figure out to stop a species that he designed and created from proliferating out of control without inflicting diseases on them with is rather uncreative or incompetent. I mean, if that prospect worries god, why would he build the problem into our "design" in the first place?

Basically, it seems to me that you're suggesting that God needs mosquitos to correct a problem that, presumably, God himself created. Either that or God can't figure out a way to solve the problem without waging biological warfare on his creation.

I think this point of view has theological implications that don't mesh well with the beliefs of many religions.

+1. Pretty much exactly how I think, put much more eloquently than I would be capable of.

 

[Penumbra]

Another way of putting it: a god who can't figure out to stop a species that he designed and created from proliferating out of control without inflicting diseases on them with is rather uncreative or incompetent. I mean, if that prospect worries god, why would he build the problem into our "design" in the first place?

Basically, it seems to me that you're suggesting that God needs mosquitos to correct a problem that, presumably, God himself created. Either that or God can't figure out a way to solve the problem without waging biological warfare on his creation.

I think this point of view has theological implications that don't mesh well with the beliefs of many religions.

^What he said.

The concept that, in order for God to create a balanced system, he must include the deaths of 700,000 people per year from Malaria (and mostly children), is rather strikingly callous. One might wonder why God would bother to create such a system at all if, in order to balance it out, he must include creatures constantly killing other creatures, parasites, disease, natural disasters, and mass extinctions.

It's all some beautifully interwoven piece art until a tsunami kills your family or malaria provides a child with a slow death. Then it's personal, and doesn't seem so beautiful.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Why didn’t Noah just swat those two mosquitoes?

:frog:

 

[RitalinO.D.]

Why didn’t Noah just swat those two mosquitoes?

:frog:

God wouldn't allow it, as it would ruin his "Bigger picture".

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

At least he made them small...

 

[Looncall]

At least he made them small...

You should try Canada's Barren Lands. The mosquitoes there look small but they come by the gazillion. There's nothing like a trip to the barrens in summer to dispel any notion of a loving creator.

The caribou even time their migrations to minimize the buggy menace.

If you'd like a nice read that describes all this, I recommend "Discovering Eden" by Alex Hall.

If there is a hell, it isn't hot, it's buggy.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

Why would God create them?

How else would malaria be spread?

 

[rusra02]

Why would God create them?

It is important to realize that animals and other creatures are far different today than they were before mankind's disastrous rebellion in Eden. As Genesis 1:30 tells us: " And to every wild animal of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving on the earth in which there is life, I have given all green vegetation for food.” And it was so."
Since mankind's rebellion, animals attack and devour one another, and even humans. However, I believe God will soon reverse the incalculable damage mankind has done to the earth and it's animal inhabitants. As Isaiah 11:6-9 promises: "*The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them. *The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull. *The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake. *They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea." Mosquitoes will no longer bite and infect humans with dread diseases, nor will any other insects, IMO.

 

[metis]

Someone apparently doesn't realize that there's a great deal of symbolism, allegories, and metaphors found in Isaiah as well as many other books, and the book of Revelations is just one more example of this.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

*They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea."

What I don't get is why didn't Jehovah fill the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah before he set Adam & Eve lose in the garden. And if he did, then how is it that Adam & Eve cause harm?

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

It is important to realize that animals and other creatures are far different today than they were before mankind's disastrous rebellion in Eden. As Genesis 1:30 tells us: " And to every wild animal of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving on the earth in which there is life, I have given all green vegetation for food.” And it was so."
Since mankind's rebellion, animals attack and devour one another, and even humans. However, I believe God will soon reverse the incalculable damage mankind has done to the earth and it's animal inhabitants. As Isaiah 11:6-9 promises: "*The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them. *The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull. *The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake. *They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea." Mosquitoes will no longer bite and infect humans with dread diseases, nor will any other insects, IMO.

But Mosquitos do it so that they can bear young...and only the females do it male Mosquitos don't bite...soo...why were the nature of the female mosquito changed and males weren't?

 

[rusra02]

What I don't get is why didn't Jehovah fill the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah before he set Adam & Eve lose in the garden. And if he did, then how is it that Adam & Eve cause harm?

In what way do you think Jehovah withheld knowledge from Adam and Eve?

 

[rusra02]

But Mosquitos do it so that they can bear young...and only the females do it male Mosquitos don't bite...soo...why were the nature of the female mosquito changed and males weren't?

beats me.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

In what way do you think Jehovah withheld knowledge from Adam and Eve?

I*They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea."

The implication is that if the earth is filled with the knowledge of jehovah, there would be no harm or any ruin! Yet adam & eve brought ruin, so how could they have been filled with the knowledge?

Second, according to the story, they did not have knowledge. Gen 2, god forbade adam to eat of the tree of knowledge. Gen 3 the fall of man was punishment for taking knowledge & god proclaimed that "man is now like us, knowing good & evil.

It would appear that "knowledge" was our sin and destruction and resulted in the fallen world. And now, if we get a second dose of knowledge i guess, it will be what prevents harm. Seems like he could of just given us a double helping up front and saved a lot of pain and suffering :yes:

 

[rusra02]

The implication is that if the earth is filled with the knowledge of jehovah, there would be no harm or any ruin! Yet adam & eve brought ruin, so how could they have been filled with the knowledge?

Second, according to the story, they did not have knowledge. Gen 2, god forbade adam to eat of the tree of knowledge. Gen 3 the fall of man was punishment for taking knowledge & god proclaimed that "man is now like us, knowing good & evil.

It would appear that "knowledge" was our sin and destruction and resulted in the fallen world. And now, if we get a second dose of knowledge i guess, it will be what prevents harm. Seems like he could of just given us a double helping up front and saved a lot of pain and suffering :yes:

Both Adam and Eve rejected the truth for the lies Satan told them. I believe the tree symbolizes God's right to decide what is good and bad. Their eating from the tree was a grasping for what does not belong to humans, the right to make moral judgments without God's direction. God did not withhold knowledge from Adam and Eve, just as he does not to those who serve him. Rather, IMO, God enlightens us with accurate knowledge that we can obtain nowhere but from Him. (Psalm 119:130)

 

[ruffen]

Both Adam and Eve rejected the truth for the lies Satan told them. I believe the tree symbolizes God's right to decide what is good and bad. Their eating from the tree was a grasping for what does not belong to humans, the right to make moral judgments without God's direction. God did not withhold knowledge from Adam and Eve, just as he does not to those who serve him. Rather, IMO, God enlightens us with accurate knowledge that we can obtain nowhere but from Him. (Psalm 119:130)

So, God didn't withhold knowledge from them by banning them from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of right and wrong?

And who made Satan? Who made the snake? Who made the big tempting fruits on the tree?

That God is a terribly wicked one.

 

[AndromedaRXJ]

God: "Because **** you, that's why."

On a serious note...

Mosquitoes also spread organic material around. In some areas they can be an important fertilizer where there are few other sources.

As do many other insects who manage to do so without spreading deadly diseases.

If mosquitoes were to vanish, there may be a minor upset in the eco system, but there are plenty of other insect clades that would love to fill the mosquitoes' previous niche.

Heck, bees are supposedly declining, so let a clade from them fill the part.